Search! Strawhat's Mission!
by Harumi95
Summary: The strawhats arrive on yet another island on the search for the One Piece! But a mysterious 'curse' of the island has affected them, with the help of Ace, will they all recover?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone :) this is Harumi95 speaking… This is my first story so any review will be considered and appreciated greatly… Apologies for any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: All the One Piece characters belong to Oda (I used to call him 'Oda-sensei' until he did something terrible with our (?) all time favourite character :'( ) **

The Thousand Sunny sailed peacefully across the azure ocean, the Strawhat's flag rippling proudly. The normally busy crew could be seen relaxing about on the decks; be it sleeping, sun-bathing, playing music, reading, or even telling a lie to an excited reindeer.

Nami shifted into a more comfortable position on the sun-bathing deck, sipping orange juice delicately. She sighed happily, breathing in the refreshing air and enjoying the rare moment of peace. The delicious desserts Sanji made for her and Robin added to her good mood, and deciding that she would compliment for his services, she turned around to face him, but found that he left to prepare breakfast for the crew.

Nami frowned, but shrugged and decided to look for the only other sane person on the ship excluding herself. She grabbed her drink and walked down to the library, looking around for her nakama. She soon found the archeologist perched on the sofa, reading intently. Nami carefully approached her, not wanting to disturb the women. She slowly sat down; studying the thick, heavy-set book the archeologist was poring over.

'Hello, navigator-san, what brings you down here?' Robin asked, not taking her eyes off her book.

'Hey, Robin-San,' Nami politely replied, 'I came down because I wanted to see what you were doing,' She eyed the big, leather-bound book perched on the top of Robin's lap, sipping her drink. 'May I ask what that book is about?'

Robin smiled, 'Well, Navigator-san, I'm just reading about the history of the island we are heading to,' She paused, closing the book with a light thud, 'It's very interesting actually, but many pages are extremely frayed, which is a pity seeing that I want to know more about an interesting side effect the book was talking about.'

'What kind of side effect?' Nami asked suspiciously, narrowing her eye instinctively.

'I cannot verify each detail, but it seems that the atmosphere affects the human body both physically and mentally… However, there are no clear references stating the exact symptoms.' She paused to study the navigator's pale face. 'Several reliable sources have revealed to me that the unique life forms on the island produce a special toxin which enhances the body and mind, all according to the person-'

'But these legends can't be true, right Robin-san??' Nami interrupted, her eyes wide-open.

The archeologist frowned slightly, 'I'm sorry to say Nami-san, I have plenty of other resources to back the claim up,' she carefully said, 'but I don't think there's any reason for you to worry, since many of the ancient texts specifically claims that the toxins only affect young children.'

The navigator sighed in relief, suddenly feeling tired, 'That's a relief Robin-san, I thought that we were going to land on even more trouble…' she threw the other women a guilty look, 'I'm sorry about the interruption, but with a crew like this to take care of,' Nami looked towards the frontier, hearing the sounds of a fight even below the deck, '… let's just say that everything needs a careful once-over.'

Robin gently smiled at the Navigator's antics. She was sometimes harsh, yes, but cared more for her nakama more than anyone can imagine.

Suddenly, the ship's bell rang loudly, signaling that the breakfast was ready.

'Ah,' Robin said with a smile, 'I think that if we do not hurry, Sanji-san will be forced to fight off the crew in order to leave us something to eat.'

Nami sighed, nodding resignedly, 'And if he is forced to fight, there won't be anything left of the kitchen to eat from anyway.'

The two women stood up, the archeologist carefully placing the ancient book on the table. They walked across the landing, and started to climb up towards the deck.

Even a good hundred yards away, Nami could hear the noise of crashing and shouting from the kitchen. She ground her teeth ferociously. _'I swear, if those idiots broke something valuable, I'll kill the-_' her thought were suddenly interrupted by a loud thud, coming from the frontier. The two narrowed their eyes, body tensing for a battle. But automatically relaxed when they saw the familiar orange hat and the freckled, grinning face.

'Yo,' Ace smiled, 'how's it going?'

Nami smiled, and was about to reply when a sudden noise disturbed her, she dodged reflexively, narrowly missing the flying body of Zoro.

'Ha! shitty-swordsmen,' a voice boomed across the deck, 'that will teach you for insulting my delicious food!' Sanji grinned manically, before noticing his precious ladies, standing next to the furious swordsman. He immediately dropped down to his noodle-dancing state.

'Nami-chaaannn~ Robin-swaaaan~', he cried, running full-speed towards his ladies.

'Why you…' Zoro got on to his feet, a dark aura surrounding him, 'HOW DARE YOU KICK ME, CURLY-BROWS!' he shouted. The furious swordsman attacked - intent on killing the blonde male.

Sanji bristled at the insult, immediately blocking the attack. He lifted his leg to retaliate, and Zoro swung his three swords high up, ready for the fight.

A sudden lightening bolt hit the two men, leaving charred, smoking bodies in a heap. A vein throbbed on Nami's forehead as she swung her clima-tact to hit each of them on the head.

'Can't you two behave yourself a bit more? It's going to cost money to repair the damage you inflict you know!' she growled, making the two men cower.

The cook threw the navigator a hurt look, 'But… that shitty swordsman started it…'

'I don't care who started it! The next time you break something, YOU better pay for it - with double interest!'

Zoro glared, rubbing his head, 'Evil witch…' he grumbled, bending down to pick up his katana.

'WHAT DID YOU SAY?'

Ace chuckled, 'Wow, you guys didn't change at all.'

Zoro turned around and blinked, 'Firefist Ace? Why are you in this part of the grand line?'

'Oh, I just had some… business to take care of,' Ace grinned when the swords man shot him a suspicious look. 'Besides, I wanted to see how Luffy was doing. Has he caused you a lot of trouble?'

'If jumping off the ship continuously with the complete lack of the ability to swim is 'trouble', then, yes, he is a lot of trouble.' Sanji rolled his eyes and sighed, even momentarily forgetting to noodle-dance for his ladies.

'He's jumping off board?' Ace narrowed his eyes, 'I'll have to talk to him about that one.'

'He won't listen, besides I don't think he does it on purpose. More like… a complete lack of brain cells.' Zoro said, scratching his head.

'Hmm… well, we'll see about that… Anyway,' he turned to Sanji, 'have you got any provisions for me to take with me? Something leftover maybe? Pops told me not to hang around too long around-' Ace stopped, noticing the sudden drop in temperature.

Both Sanji's eyes were shaded, and were surrounded by a dangerous aura. 'You're asking me for something LEFT OVER?'

Ace sweat dropped, slowly edging towards his boat, 'It would be appreciated, and I can pay for it… anything will do…' he trailed off, sensing that he said the wrong thing.

To say that the cook was furious would have been a huge understatement. Sanji suddenly grew bigger, dark clouds gathering behind him, 'No-one, and I mean NO-ONE, will eat LEFT OVERS AND PAY FOR IT while they are in MY CARE!!! I don't care if Whitebeard himself said that you can't stay for long!!' he said, gritting his teeth. 'In the kitchen… NOW!'

Ace suddenly found himself being dragged to the kitchen by the extremely angry cook. He blinked, not quite understanding hat happened.

'Well, it's your fault.' Zoro said casually, walking besides him, 'you shouldn't have touched the subject… the shitty cook is too sensitive about it… but I wonder why he was so annoyed about it…' The swordsman added thoughtfully.

Ace blinked again and then chuckled, 'Ah, I'm fine with it,' he patted his toned stomach, 'it was about time I had a proper meal anyway.'

Zoro laughed, it was funny sometimes to see the rare similarities the D brothers shared.

Sanji opened the kitchen door and groaned as he took in the empty plates, all but licked clean on the table. He felt a vein threatening to pop.

Chopper, Ussop, Brook and Franky startled, and shot guilty looks towards the cook.

An awkward silence followed the entrance, everyone's attention fixed on the furious cook.

Brooke felt obliged to break the silence, since he was one of the people who had eaten everything after all, 'Yo ho ho! It seems like we have a guest… I do love meeting new people! My heart would burst in joy, but I don't have one because… I'm a skeleton!!!' Brooke laughed loudly and belched, spraying bits of food everywhere.

The tension instantly broke, everyone chuckling and visibly relaxing as the cook sighed and moved over to the stove to make more breakfast.

Franky happily relaxed against his chair, 'So… the incident done and over with…' he turned to Ace, 'who are you, bro?' he asked curiously.

'Ah, Nice to meet you, I'm Ace, Luffy's older brother.' Ace grinned, walking towards the table and taking a chair. 'May I?' he asked amusedly to Chopper, who was gawking at him shamelessly, mouth hanging wide open.

'S, s, s, s, s, s, sure!' the doctor stammered, hurrying to make room for the captain's brother.

'So, you came here to see your brother?' Franky asked, standing up on the table and striking a pose. 'Ohh! Brotherly love is such a touching thing… SUPER!'

Ace chuckled, 'Yeah, I'm here to check on Luffy… But speaking of which,' he looked around carefully, 'Where is he?'

Everyone froze, panic rushing in. Each of them hit themselves mentally for not realizing sooner. They asked themselves the same question: Where is Luffy and why is he late for a meal?

Robin calculated the situation; either sencho-san has really overslept, which was very unlikely, or he was in trouble – Again. The last time Luffy didn't turn up for breakfast… she shuddered at the memory.

'Okay… well, I'll check up on him… just in case.' Nami said, barely concealing the worry. But before she got up from her chair, soft thuds were heard approaching the kitchen.

'Luffy?' Chopper asked cautiously.

An affirmative 'hai' was heard behind the door, and the crew let out a sigh of relief. Ussop and Franky shuffled to make space for the captain, expecting him to burst through the door any moment.

'What? Again?' an unexpected sigh was heard from behind the door, 'Nami's going to kill me… GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!'

Everyone blinked, surely he won't… The door exploded with impact, showering everyone in debris.

'LUFFY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!' Nami shouted angrily. She stomped to the front, fully intent on hitting the captain. But before she could, she froze at the sight of him. The Soft black hair, rubbery skin, and the trademark straw hat and grin – it WAS definitely the captain… Only… he seemed to have halved in size.

Luffy laughed, scratching his head awkwardly, 'Sorry I'm late,' he looked towards his nakama, 'I couldn't reach the door handles for the men's cabin, so I had to smash that one too!'

His crew was now gaping at him in shock. He blinked twice, 'What, is there anything wrong?'

'LUFFY???!!!!'

**OMG… this fic is really bad compared to all the amazing ones I've been reading… :'( I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to mention IDs but:**

**Na-chan00, Clarobell, AllHeroesWearHats, roo17, and Kitsune123 – I LOVE ALL YOUR FICS :D hehe…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks to everyone who reviewed :D You guys just stopped me from deleting the whole thing all together… I mean, I reread the first chapter after I published it… and I seriously felt so embarrassed at the monumental amount of mistakes and bad grammar :( Sorry, but English is not my first language :'( I can't help it… But after a few positive feedback, I finally have the guts to update :P**

**Disclaimer: All the characters from One Piece belong to Eiichiro Oda!**

Everyone stared, mouth hanging open. How can this happen? And why was the captain just STANDING there with his over-sized pajama top draped around his tiny body, as if NOTHING HAD HAPPENED? Luffy frowned, his innocent eyes scanning the shocked faces. 'Ne, ne, how long are you going to stare at me like that?'

Ace was the first to recover, 'Luffy? …Is that you?' he asked carefully, slowly approaching his brother.

Luffy turned around quickly, surprised to have heard his nee-chan's voice. 'ACE!' he shouted, a grin instantly appearing on his face. Luffy started towards his brother, but before he even took a step, he tripped on his pajama shirt, landing flat on his face.

'LUFFY!' Ace shouted in panic, quickly approaching the still body. He carefully placed his hands on his brother's shoulders and shook it. 'LUFFY? Are you okay?'

Silence.

'Lu?' Ace shook his shoulders harder, concern filling his voice.

Still silence.

Ace visibly tensed, and was about to flip Luffy over when suddenly, a small, muffled sob came from underneath the body.

Ace blinked, was his brother… crying? He couldn't remember the last time Luffy cried over something like this. His confused thoughts were confirmed when Luffy's body started to shake, sobs wracking his frail frame. Ace's brotherly instincts took over instantly, cradling his little brother and hugging him tightly.

'There, there…' he said gently, stroking Luffy's soft hair. 'Did it hurt that much?'

Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace's neck, burying his head and taking in the faint whiff of cinnamon.

'No… of course it doesn't hurt' he sniffed, and shut his eyes tightly in a futile attempt to stop the tears from falling. He was such a baby. Crying in front of his nee-chan and embarrassing himself in front of his entire crew. Luffy tightened his grip on his brother, taking comfort from the familiar presence.

To say that the crew was dumbfounded watching the two brothers, would have been a complete understatement. Their CAPTAIN, the fearless, insanely powerful captain, had just come down to breakfast with the physique of a 7 year-old, and was currently crying on his brothers arms because he just fell over.

Robin just chuckled at the cute scene. After all, she had much more experience as a pirate on the Grand Line than any other crew member. The archeologist had seen much more than shrinking (or de-aging, she added) affecting the body – Especially during her stay in the Baroque works. Nevertheless, she studied her captain carefully, having learnt that these situations should not be taken lightly.

'Hmm… interesting...' she murmured. It seemed that captain-san was affected with the 'curse' the book was talking about… But why? It was only meant to affect children, _'enhancing the body both mentally and physically' _were the exact words. Besides, she found all her evidence supporting this claim from the Poneglyph in Skypiea – Which simply cannot be false…

Something suddenly clicked in her brain, and she suddenly realized that she was missing the key point.

Robin turned to the wide-eyed navigator, 'Nami-san, I think I know what affected Sencho-san.'

The Strawhats turned to look at the Archeologist, confidently leaning against the kitchen table. Ace also turned around to look, with the now sleeping Luffy cradled in his arms.

'You mean, you know what's happening?' Nami said tiredly, 'then, please tell us Robin-san…' She slumped down onto a chair, gratefully accepting the drink Sanji offered to her.

Robin tilted her head thoughtfully, wondering where to start. After a moment, the archeologist decided that she would have to explain from the very beginning: 'First,' she started, 'I must explain where everything originates from - The island we are approaching, the 'Origin line' island, is famous for its preservation of pre-historic life-forms. But unlike other pre-historic islands like Little Garden, the Origin line is famous for one unique plant – The Adam Tree.'

Franky choked on the bottle of cola he was drinking, 'WHAT? Sis, you don't mean THE Adam tree, do you? You can't possibly mean the tree I built this ship with… right??'

Robin smiled, 'Yes, it is indeed right that I'm talking about the Adam tree-'

The shipwright's drink crashed on the floor unintentionally, interrupting the archeologist. He suddenly felt faint, trying to grasp the huge concept. 'But, sis, that's… Impossible. I mean, millions of people have been trying to find it for centuries! And only a few have been lucky enough to pick up scraps washed onto beaches every few years…' Franky trailed off, looking comically serious. 'But… if, IF what you're saying is true… THAN PLEASE TAKE ME THERE WITH YOU!!' he posed, his previously serious complexion gone instantly. 'SUPER! I can FEEL the LOVE IN THE AIR!! EVERYONE, REPEAT AFTER ME! LOVE is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U- '

Suddenly, he was hit with a lightening bolt, summoned up by the annoyed navigator. But the shipwright's ecstatic mood was not easily broken, '…T-I-F-U-L!!' he finished on the floor, grinning happily.

Nami shook her head warily, an anger vein throbbing visibly. 'Please continue Robin-san.'

Robin chuckled, helping Franky up by summoning her arms. She turned to the cyborg and smiled, 'Of course Franky-san, after all, if the poison is the flower, the cure lies within its roots.'

The shipwright jumped up to the table, opening his stomach-fridge (sorry… I didn't know what else to say) and grabbing a bottle of his beloved cola. 'I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DEPT! THANYOUUUU!' he shouted, tears and snot running down his face. Opening the bottle, he drank everything in one gulp, and settled down eagerly to listen to the archeologist.

The crew sighed, but Ace could see that they were genuinely happy for Franky. He grinned inwardly, delighted for his little-brother to gain such a valuable crew. But thinking of his brother made him remember the serious situation. Ace stroked Luffy's soft hair, chuckling as Luffy mumbled his name in his sleep. _I will protect you… no matter what! _

Noticing the change in Ace's mood, Robin continued her speech. 'So, as Franky-san mentioned, the Adam tree is very famous - Many people travel the grand line just for the sole reason of finding the tree.'

'If that many people really HAD traveled to look for this 'Adam tree', and failed to find its location, how are YOU sure of the location?' Zoro questioned, frowning slightly.

'Good question Zoro-san. It is true that no-one has yet to discover the location of the Adam tree… But I have more than just 'proof' to back this theory up. For instance, the information that I'm sharing with you now was obtained from the Poneglyph in Skypiea. The information is absolute, and there are very few who dare to learn the Ancient language and defy the world government.' Robin lowered her gaze, and a saddened note crept into her voice, 'I believe I am the only one alive in the world who can read this text… so, that answers your question to why the location has never yet been found…'

Zoro nodded hastily and looked away, feeling guilty for asking the question. 's-so, why is the Adam tree related to any of this?' he asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

At this, Robin turned to Nami, 'As I told Navigator-san earlier, the flower that blooms on the Adam tree produces a special toxin that is meant to 'enhance the body both physically and mentally'. I did not know what it meant before, but it seems to change – enhance – the body according to the person.'

Sanji snorted, 'If it is true, then it was so like Luffy to change into a toddler's body. I mean, what else befits him more?'

Nami frowned, 'But I thought it only affected young children, Robin-san.'

Robin chuckled, light gleaming in her eyes, 'That's where I missed the key point Navigator-san! To the Ancients, the term 'children' must have meant much older than our modern meaning. After all, it was recorded that our ancestors lived up to 300 years.'

'EHHH??' Nami cried, a bewildered expression on her face. 'So it affected Luffy because he's younger than us?'

'B-but… if Luffy was affected, shouldn't I be?' Chopper asked timidly, hiding behind Zoro. 'Actually… If the life expectancy was about 300 years… then…' he licked his lips, nervous of the attention. 'S-shouldn't we all be?'

It was a bombshell question – Everyone wanted to deny it, but could see the logic behind it.

Robin recovered first, 'Hmm… you're right Doctor-san… We should indeed be affected… And, I think that it started already.' She looked towards the cook, remembering the earlier overreaction to Ace. Sanji must have realized the same thing, because a sudden panicked expression appeared on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Robin stopped him, 'Before you all start to worry, we must remember that the side-effects depend on the person themselves.'

'But… doesn't that mean that we have no-idea what would happen to us??!!' Ussop cried, his face pale.

'Yes… it does seem that way…'

Everyone groaned.

**Haha :L yes, and to the people who read this far, thanks :) Special thanks for roo17 for encouraging me… PLEASE REVIEW :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone :) I am ****so**** happy with the amount of reviews for the first chapter – hence, making me update quicker than expected :D I thought long and hard about what kind of changes the crew would take – it was a choice between 'funny' or 'serious'. In the end, I decided to add some humour in :P I enjoyed writing this chapter so much (laugh)… Apologies for any grammatical errors- I didn't have time to check them :/**

**DISCLAIMER: if onepiece belonged to me, Ace wouldn't have DIED!!! :'(**

**NOTE: (continuing from the disclaimer) But, I sincerely hope that Law can bring him back to life somehow though… **

Sanji stared, his jaws dropping in astonishment. Beautiful, golden locks cascading down the shoulders; a pair of large, innocent blue eyes; a chest size that would rival even his beloved Nami-swaan – sure, he would happily die any day for a beauty like that staring at him… except that, 1) he was staring at the bathroom mirror 2) his reflection seemed to have disappeared, and 3) it seems to have been replaced with the women's.

Sanji blinked. The woman in the mirror mimicked exactly, even widening her eyes slightly as he did himself. Was this…him? He waved at the reflection hesitantly, stepping backwards as the women copied him once again.

The cook tried to digest the piece of information: he was A GIRL?

Zoro turned on his hammock and opened his eyes sleepily. Squinting, he looked out the porthole to check the time of the day. The hammock next to him was empty, meaning that the shitty cook was already up to make breakfast… He wanted more sleep, but seeing the sun starting to peek out, he decided to get up to do his training session. But before he could even attempt to get out of bed, a weight pushed him down. Something as light as that wouldn't have even made the swordsman notice that it was on top of him, but then, he was still a man; and what kind of man would not be affected by A STUNNING NAKED WOMEN ON TOP OF HIM? For once in his life, Zoro could not apply any kind of matter-of-fact reason for a situation. He tried to edge away from the hammock, but to no avail, smooth tanned arms coiled around him, preventing him from movement.

Zoro blushed heavily, but gave up his futile resistance. The woman seemed to be asleep, but seems to notice unconsciously if the swordsman moved. He frowned, his brain racing. He steadied himself and took a deep breath: he ran through the drill mentally - to defeat an enemy, one must know who it is first. Reluctantly, Zoro studied the women and felt a nosebleed coming: glistening bronze skin, short feathery brown hair, a cute round face… with a slight blue nose? His eyes traveled downwards unintentionally – a VERY bad mistake. His confusion forgotten completely, Zoro jumped out of the hammock, blushing furiously.

The women awoke instantly with the absence of a source of warmth. She yawned and stretched, arching her back in a manner that made the said swordsman turn into a shade of red once again. She scratched her hair tiredly, but suddenly stopped, noticing Zoro.

'Ohayo~' she rolled off the hammock, and moved towards the horrified swordsman. She grinned, 'Sorry Zoro-san. I couldn't sleep yesterday night in my bed… what with all of that talk about scary side-affects…' she shuddered, suddenly latching onto Zoro's legs. This earned an instant reaction from the heavily blushing swordsman, who shoved her off and grabbed his swords for protection.

To mask his embarrassment, Zoro quickly started to question the women. 'W-who are you,' he stuttered slightly, 'and h-how do you know about the side-affects we were talking about yesterday?' he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Awkward situation or not, the safety of his Nakama came first.

The women blinked, confusion sweeping through her face. 'W-What do you mean, who am I?' her eyes suddenly swelled with tears, 'a-am I really that insignificant that you've forgotten who I am?' the corners of her mouth pulled downwards.

Zoro scratched his head and faced the women, 'We've met before? I don' remembe-' He was suddenly cut off with a massive nose-bleed, having the mistake of looking at a certain exposed body part. 'D-Damn it! Put some clothes on for heaven's sake!' he covered his nose in an attempt to stop the blood.

Her eyes widened, 'Y-you're bleeding!' she suddenly got up and ran around in circles, 'AHHHH!!! SOMEBODY CALL A DOCTOR!!!!' she shouted in panic.

Zoro blinked, that reaction was certainly familiar…

The women suddenly stopped, realizing a crucial point, 'wait… I'M THE DOCT-'

'Chopper…?'

She stopped in mid-sentence. 'Yes, Zoro?' she asked, clearly not understanding the swordsman's shock.

Zoro's mouth hung open comically. 'B-But… what happened to you?'

Chopper tilted her head, 'W-What?? Is there something wrong with m-' She froze, her stunned gaze directed at her delicate fingers. 'Why do I have a female hand?' her eyes slowly traveled down her body. 'A-And why do I have a women's body?'

Zoro closed his eyes. _Relax; it isn't as if I didn't go through worse than this. We need to keep it calm. _'We need to find Robin – now. I have a feeling she would know what to d-'

Chopper didn't pay any attention to the swordsman's words. She started to run around in panic – but only to bump into an extremely pissed Nami.

The navigator opened her mouth to shout, but instantly closed it when she saw the figure she was holding. Her eyes widened, 'W-who are you?'

'That's Chopper.' The swordsman intervened, 'and don't ask me why he's like that, because I don't know'

To say that Nami was shocked would've been a complete understatement. 'Then… Chopper got affected too?'

Zoro was going to answer when they heard a familiar shout for the navigator.

'NAMI-CHWAAAANNNN~~~!!!'

Nami frowned, was it just her, or was the shout to high to be a proper male voice? Her question was answered when a blonde women burst through the door, wearing Nami's orange-striped bikini.

'S-SANJI???!!!' Nami shouted in horror.

But instead of looking horrified or shocked, (like the rest of the people in the room were) Sanji looked immensely happy. 'Nami-chwaan, don't you think I look wonderful in your bikini?' her eyes turned into love hearts, 'of course, I cannot compete with YOUR beauty Na-'

'What's going on here?' a steady voice questioned from the doorway. Ace walked into the light with Luffy and Robin following him.

'Hmm… it seems that cook-san and Doctor-san was affected by the 'curse' of the island already…' Robin said, analyzing the two figures.

'Yes… what are we going to do Robin-san?' Nami asked, sighing with annoyance.

'It is not yet clear what we must do to cure the side-affects if the island. However, we know one thing for sure: the cure lies within the island itself.'

'Yoshi! Then it's like a treasure hunt!' Luffy piped in, grinning with excitement, 'it can be our mission to find the cure!!' He turned to Ace. 'Can we PLEASE play it?'

Ace smiled at his brother's antics, 'Sure Luffy,' he ruffled Luffy's hair, 'But only if you behave yourself on the way to the island – okay?'

'Okay!' he smiled brightly and hugged Ace in thanks.

Everyone in the room chuckled at their captain, momentarily forgetting their troubles. Sometimes, Luffy was just too cute for his own good.

**I was actually going to make Zoro and Brooke to be the two women – but I changed my mind because I had a brilliant idea for the two :D and SORRY- I HAD to put in Ace and Luffy in there SOMEWHERE… and the ending was really bad… :'( Special thanks to Kitsune-san, Roo-san and all my reviewers for helping me update :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello - once again :D Did I ever mention that I love every single one of you who review?? So please continue 3 Teehee :P Anyway, I decided that the whole thing is going to be set just before the Impel Down Arc – so, hints of the storyline might appear :) oh yes, another important thing: there MAY be a tiny hint of the pairing Franky and Nami – this will not continue, and was not intended, but reading back, it does contain HINTS. **

**Disclaimer: All Onepiece characters belong solely to Eiichiro Oda!!**

Ace sunk into the lounge sofa, sighing with content at the blissful sensation. The day had been chaotic – with Sanji and Chopper unused to their new bodies, they kept unintentionally exposing their… rather ample body parts; Every time resulting in a scene - with at least one of the male crew members in casualty through heavy blood loss. And with only Chopper to fix them up, the situation only got worse.

Ace scratched his head, wondering how Zoro managed to survive all those life-endangering wounds, and yet nearly die from a nosebleed. He shrugged and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch, tilting his hat to shade his eyes. He really needed some sleep before his next source of trouble came-

'ACEEEEEEEEEEE~~~~'

He sighed and got up from the couch, bracing for the impact that would surely follow.

Luffy burst into the living room, charged into Ace and wounded his arms tightly around his brother. Ace expected him to beg him to play with him, but when none came, he looked down curiously at his little brother. But before he could properly see what he was up to, a white envelope was shoved into his face.

'Lu, what's this?' he asked, taking the envelope from his brother's outstretched hands.

Luffy grinned. 'Don't know!' he chirped happily, 'but Nami said it was important - and it was for Ace, so I volunteered to take it to you!'

Ace chuckled, and was just about to comment when he accidentally saw the sign on the envelope – the whitebeard crest. All traces of laughter vanished instantly from his face. The emblem was not what affected him, but the colour… it was red – the sign for bloodshed; death; violence. His face visibly paled at the thought.

He quickly ripped off the wax seal and hastily reached for the piece of paper. With a determined look, Ace opened the letter and started to read, his face steadily losing colour as he read down the page.

Luffy looked up to his brother with concern. Even with his current age, he was aware of the serious atmosphere. 'Ne ne, Ace? Are you okay? What does the letter say?'

When he reached the end of the page, the letter slipped from Ace's fingers and fell to the floor. 'No… way… Thatch… he's dead?' He whispered, eyes wide open with shock.

'Ne, Ace? Who's dead?' Luffy was growing more worried for his brother, his mouth pulled down to a frown. 'What's wrong?'

Ace blinked, finally seeming to notice his brother. He placed Luffy on the sofa and looked into his brother's eyes seriously. 'Luffy, I need to go - Now. You'll be okay won't you? With your crew looking after you, I'm sure you would… Right?'

'Why is Ace going?' hurt flashed across Luffy's face, 'are you leaving me?'

Ace felt his heart throb with pain as he saw the wave of emotion on his brother's face. 'No, Luffy – You know I'll never, NEVER abandon you… it's just that, my nakama was hurt, and…' his face darkened, 'I have some paying back to do.'

Luffy sniffed, 'Promise you'll come back straight after?'

Ace cracked a sad smile, 'Promise.'

* * *

He was nearing the Whitebeard armada. Ace could see them, a distant blur on the horizon. He sped up, wanting to kill the scoundrel Teach as soon as possible. He clenched his fists.

_Unforgivable, you'll regret this. _

* * *

'EH?? Ace is GONE??' Nami groaned. The day was going from bad to worse every minute. She frowned, her lips pressed into a thin line, 'Tsk… How could he leave us at this sort of time?'

Robin sighed. Even with her monumental amount of patience, she was stretched to her limits with the rest of the crew. But now that Ace-san was gone, she was forced to deal with Sencho-san as well.

'Indeed, Nami-san… it also does not help that nearly half the crew had now officially been 'affected' by the island's atmosphere…'

Nami slumped against the kitchen wall and sighed at the thought. Shortly after Ace left, there was the 'incident' again. ANOTHER 'affected' member of the crew. Ohh, the change wasn't as big as with Chopper and Sanji alright, but it was enough to nearly give Nami a heart attack. I mean, who wouldn't? With Franky - yes, FRANKY - turning up to dinner in a SUIT, offer them a cup of coffee and denounce cola? To add to their surprise, his body wasn't of a cyborg anymore, but had a normal, lean frame. And although Nami tried to continuously deny it, she had to admit that he was very, VERY good looking. She blushed at the thought, leaving the archeologist wondering what she was thinking.

* * *

Ace started to slow down his boat, nearing to the Moby Dick. He could hear the blast of the cannon welcoming him to home. Shouts were also heard from the deck, ordering the crew to lower the ladder.

Ace smiled, it was good to be back - even if the visit was caused by the murder of his nakama. Stopping the boat completely, he waited for the ladder to be lowered. Although he could jump up to huge heights, the Moby was too much for him to even attempt the action.

The ladder was dropped next to him, splashing seawater on his boat. He moved to grab it, but a sudden wave of pain made him lose his footing. Unable to move, he crashed into the hull and slipped into the sea.

Everyone watching froze; it happened in such a short span of time that nobody knew what to do. The first division captain, who was watching his nakama's arrival, recovered first.

'Quickly, Save him!' he shouted to a subordinate, unable to go in the sea himself.

The man instantly obeyed, diving into the water without a second thought. Several others jumped after him, worried for their commander. But after a minute, most resurfaced empty handed, save for the original of the group.

Minutes passed one after the other. Marco was getting worried, what if he drowned? What if-

His thoughts were interrupted when the last resurfaced, firmly holding onto a boy's hands. Marco's heart skipped a beat. Where is Ace, and who was that boy?

The subordinate looked as confused as he was. He looked up to the deck from the water. 'Commander!' he shouted, 'Ace-san… Ace-san was here,' he pointed at the boy, 'but… he seems to have… shrunk?'

Marco studied the boy closely and then blinked. That familiar mop of black hair, childish freckles and sleepy face…

'Ace?' he whispered.

**YAY :D I finally finished the chapter!!! The longest one by far!! Thanks to everyone who read to the end, and KISSES to people who review ;) I really wanted to include the Whitebeard pirates (cos they're amazing) and I did 3 you'll see more of them soon :) ugh… is it just me, or is my writing style just too… formal and boring? D:**


	5. Chapter 5

**Meh :( I'm losing interest in this story VERY quickly. This MIGHT be my last update… sorry. But please review if you have time :) it might even revive me from my writer's block that I'm descending to…**

**Disclaimer: All the One piece characters do NOT belong to me **

Ace felt the eyes of the crew boring into him as he walked down to the commanders' cabin. But who could blame them, when their invincible COMMANDER just turned up in a BOY'S body? He sighed heavily, an unfitting action for his young image.

'Dammit… Out of everything that could have happened, it HAD to be THIS?' Ace grumbled, looking at his small hands in dismay. He clenched his fists and kicked the canon he was walking by in frustration.

Marco looked at him, an amused expression on his face. 'You shouldn't kick the canon now Ace, you might hurt yourself.' he chuckled at the murderous glare Ace was giving at him.

'Whatever Marco.' Ace crossed his arms. OF COURSE he wasn't going to admit that his foot was aching pretty badly. He was the second division captain for heaven's sake – he could cope with an aching foot… right? He examined his new body quickly and looked down at his stomach in disgust. The muscle WAS still there, but then, so was the baby fat next to it. Ace raised one of his eyebrows and poked it, watching the soft fat wobble slightly. He was meant to kill Teach with THIS? His small, childish face set into an uncharacteristic frown as he thought of the murderer. Damn it. Child or not – he'll kill him alright.

As if he read his mind, Marco glanced back at him over his shoulders and started to speak: 'By the way Ace, if you are thinking about chasing Teach –'

Ace stopped at his tracks to stare at him disbelievingly. Surely he wasn't going to say what he thinks he's going to say…

'- there's ABSOLUTELY no way that you are going. Not with that body, I won't allow it...' He paused, looking at Ace's dumbfounded face. 'By the way – that was an order.' Marco added finally, tucking his hands inside the trouser pockets as he walked further down the deck.

Ace stood, rooted at the spot, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. Marco – MARCO – had just given him a proper command. Sure, he WAS the first commander, giving him the right to give orders to anyone, but he never used it on him before – and to put it simply – he hated it.

He glared at Marco's back. 'WHAT??!! Teach is MY responsibility! I have to kill him for what he has done!!'

'No. And that's going to be the end of it Ace.' Marco sighed and turned to him. 'Besides – pops would probably kill me if he found out that I let you fight in this condition.'

'No he won't!' Ace gritted his teeth. 'Pops would've respected-'

'No.' Marco said firmly, interrupting Ace.

Ace was furious. How dare he say that?? He stamped his feet in annoyance and glared at the first commander. 'I'm going no matter WHAT you say!!!!' He shouted fiercely. He knew he was being childish, and was already feeling the embarrassment of his speech, but he was angry – and his hurt pride overpowered his logic.

The whole crew gasped at the statement. Disobeying a direct command from the first commander was completely outrageous – even if it was Ace-san they were talking about. They studied Marco's reaction nervously, some even edging away from the pair.

Marco's face darkened slightly, a flash of anger appearing on his usually placid face. 'Ace…' he warned quietly. 'I am your superior, and I'm COMMANDING you to stop acting so immature and stay in the Moby. In your current conditions, YOU are probably the one who would die-'

Ace felt his face heat up, 'Sh-shut up!' he shouted, and before he even thought about it, and to the crew's utter horror, he threw a fireball at Marco reflexively.

The attack took Marco completely by surprise, and even in Ace's weakened state, he was knocked back by the fire and was slammed against the sub mast. At the impact, it cracked, and to Ace's horror, it started falling towards the ship next to the Moby. The crew erupted into chaos at the sight.

Ace stared at his hands in shock – he couldn't believe it. He had attacked his nakama; even worse, his FIRST nakama in the Whitebeard pirates. He stumbled backwards and felt himself shaking – he… he was no better than Teach.

In a confused haze, Ace pushed past the now shouting crew, and ran to the commanders' cabin. He pulled the door open and rushed in, startling the 13 commanders in the lounge.

Everyone in the room blinked. Was that… Ace?

Before any of the dumbfounded commanders could comment, Ace ran off to his private cabin, trying to fight back the tears. When he reached his destination, he quickly opened the door and rushed inside, locking the door in the process.

The moment the door was shut behind him, he punched the wall and felt his skin split under the pressure. 'Fuck.' He whispered. 'Fuck sake.' He punched the wall again, a crack forming on the surface of the wall. He gave up trying to hold back the tears, letting it drop and mingle with the blood dripping from his fist. He was a traitor. He betrayed Whitebeard. He attacked his superior for nothing – and… he was unwanted. He struck the wall once again, unaware if the crimson blood splattering on the white walls.

Ace walked towards the cabin's porthole. He looked blankly out, taking in the dull grey sea, stretching to the horizon. He clenched his wounded fist, making the blood ooze out faster. They'll never forgive me… But he would try his best - Starting by regaining his body and killing Teach.

He's mouth was set determinedly as he opened the porthole and took a deep breath. He'll ask for forgiveness then - And if Whitebeard doesn't accept… then he wouldn't have any reason to live anymore – Even Luffy would be ashamed of him. He smiled bitterly at the thought of his younger brother. This was his last shot – He jumped out of the porthole, landing straight onto his boat. _His last shot…_

**O_o it's a bit angsty, no? It sort of portrays my mood… I think my story is getting weird – it changes from comedy to angst in a single chapter :/ Maybe IT IS the time to end it… :'( I'm not even sure of the storyline yet – help D':**


	6. YAYYY :D

**Hello dear readers :D I'm sorry for this extremely annoying little… errr… 'Chapter' that I have posted after such a long time -_-; I seriously thought LONG and HARD about this… and I have come to a decision that I WILL continue – just give me a week, and the chapter will be UPP~~ I actually had some REALLY discouraging PMs from some 'readers' that I won't mention the name of – they were too scared to post their comments on the review section -_-; I was upset for aggeesss….. but I still can't believe that I'm STILL receiving REVIEWS even after I haven't updated for SUCH a long time XD and I'm sincerely saying this - THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU *hula dancing* I love all of you LOTS and PLEASE continue to support me~~~~ thanks again 3 wait for a little time – and the chappie WILL BE UPPP!!!!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Aha…. I am actually quite ASHAMED at the time it took me to update.. -_-;; I hope I didn't lose any of my darling users…? I'm still not sure about the story line… but hey, it's all good now that I did :)**

Chopper stood shakily on the top of the mast, looking down the horizon of the azure sea. Unused to the slim, long legs and feminine body shape, he wobbled precariously on the edge of the bird's nest. The gentle breeze tickled his face, and he sighed in content at the sensation. The blissful peace was suddenly interrupted with a noise from below. Alarmed, he carefully bent his new legs and looked down.

Brooke and Zoro were just below the bird's nest on the main deck of the ship. They were lying on the wooden floors with a dazed expression and a long trail of blood from their noses.

Chopper started to hyperventilate. 'WAAAH! SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!' He ran around in circles on the bird's nest, completely unaware that the thin trail of blood increased whenever his dress lifted slightly in the wind.

Brooke, with his empty expression, quietly noted: '… I can see his panties.'

oooooooooooooooooooooo

It was about sunset when the faint outlines of Origin Island appeared on the distant horizon. Luffy had jumped in the sea, claiming that he would swim there; Zoro had followed him like a practiced ritual and dragged him out. After a change of clothes and a scolding from Nami, he had settled to sleep next to Robin, who gently covered him with a blanket.

Nami looked straight ahead to the island. 'It'll be a few days until we reach our destination…'

Franky nodded solemnly and took a sip out of his thermostat of coffee. 'We shall indeed…'

Zoro, who was still unused to Franky's change, shot him a creeped-out look.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Brooke slowly stood up from the crow's nest and jumped down to the main deck. The sun had risen over the horizon, signifying that his was watch over.

He turned to see Nami coming out of the women's dorm. He greeted her politely, enquiring her good sleep.

Brooke could only stare when her weapon was pointing at him in an instant.

'N-nami-san?'

'Who are you, and what are you doing in our ship?' Nami stated.

Brooke struggled to understand why her cheeks started to form a blush in a situation like this.

'What do you mean? I am Brooke-'

He was interrupted with a thunder shock; and what confused him more than the fact that Nami was attacking him, was the fact that he actually FELT the thunder. He blinked, and he blinked again as he realised that he had just BLINKED. Ignoring Nami's probing questions, he stared at his hands. His new flesh-and-blood hands.

He quickly ran towards the bathroom and locked himself in as he reached it. He took a deep breath and felt a headache coming as he realised that he had lungs again. Brooke turned round slowly towards the mirror.

He couldn't help gasping.

He was human again. Not the old human himself, but a different genre altogether. Smooth, creamy skin; a well-built, toned body; soft, feathery black hair; a smooth jaw line; a pair of sharp, charcoal eyes; luscious pink lips… He was simply beautiful.

**How was it? I KNOW it's really REALLY short, but that' all I can come up with at the monet :'(…. It was poor, I know ^^ Please don't bash~! Comment please beloved reader 8D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone ^^;;;….**

**As you can see, I'm currently quite ashamed to be speaking to you through the author's note as I just realised that I haven't updated this fic for…. I don't know =_= I'M SO SORRY! I shall be totally honest with you and confess – I got off onepiece for a moment . and decided to quit writing fics permanently. BUT. I was reading some of the latest OnePiece manga, and I just couldn't help but remember this T^T… HOPEFULLY, I WILL BE UPDATING A LITTLE MORE NOW! And thank you for ALL your lovely, amazing, and continuous support!~~!**

**Disclaimer: OnePiece belongs to me, and me only.**

…**.. jk.**

Marco was more than just annoyed. Many reasons added to this simple thought, but the biggest of them was that Ace was GONE…. The small jump through that tiny window had done something historical: actually get Marco MAD enough to be fuming in public. He had also disobeyed him directly and had attacked him in front of the subordinates; something that he would eventually come round to when he finds him. He had to admit though, his main cause for his annoyance was that Ace would most likely die if left at the grand line in his current condition – and event that he had to prevent at all costs, even if it meant for him to be searching the corners of the grand line to find him… But, he didn't need to do that; he knew where he would go…

He scratched his head and sighed.

A vice-commander ran up to him. 'First commander, Marco, sir! Where do we head to?'

'It's not really a question of WHERE, it's the question of WHO…' Marco said dismissively. '….We're going to kill black beard.'

* * *

Ace had been traveling for almost 2 full days without stopping, and he felt his body begin to tire at the continuous laboring work. He frowned and urged himself to keep going, focusing on his breathing to coax his body into summoning more energy to fuel his boat. He began to see the outlines of an island, and he instantly forced himself into a full-run, anxious to get there as soon as possible.

He had gathered information through a hacked marine denden mushi that there was an extremely good chance of BlackBeard being situated in the closest island in an exact bearing of 067 degrees to the ship. The moment Ace heard this, he had instantly sped away in the direction, determined to find the traitor and kill him.

He jumped off his boat the moment he got in the 5 meter distance from the island shore, and was infinitely grateful that his body wasn't ruined enough to prevent him from jumping short distances. Without bothering to look carefully at his surroundings, he started to follow the most recent looking tracks through the thick forest, estimating several people to have hacked through the huge trees and plants.

After following for almost an hour, he decided that he might as well take in the surroundings for future reference. He scaled the tree next to him efficiently, looping through the massive needle-like leaves and branches in instinct. When he reached the top, he gasped automatically at the sheer size of what he saw. The distant horizon in front of him was barely recognizable, with all the green and fantastic rows of plants stacked on the ground without a single visible gap, the edges of the forest wasn't even visible to him. He looked back and groaned. The coastline was just in front of him; and if that short distance was an hour's worth of walking…..

Ace sighed tiredly. This was going to take a long time….

* * *

Luffy was hungry. Hungry with a desperate passion and longing. Sanji was refusing to give him any more food after last night's raid, and everyone was too busy to keep Luffy distracted from his stomach. His round face scrunched into a dissatisfactory frown – He was bored and hungry, and the only option for him currently would be to find something to amuse himself while dinner was being prepared. He frowned further and started to think on what to do. But when nothing special came to his mind, he pouted and dragged himself towards Nami's cabinet. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and grumpily opened the door to her room.

'Naaammiiiii….. I'm bored….' He whined, looking around for the orange haired navigator.

'I'm tired Luffy… Go and bother someone else for a change….'

Luffy blinked as the voice came from no where. He could swear that the navigator was not in the room, but her voice sounded as clearly as if she was standing right next to him.

'N-Nami?'

'What?'

Luffy blinked again, this time, looking around frantically to find the source of the voice.

'… Where are you?'

'What?' Her voice started to pick up the familiar annoyance. 'I'm right here you baka!'

Luffy walked into the centre of the room slowly and frowned. 'Mystery Nami….'

'What are you talking about? I'm right in front of you!'

'Uh uh, you're not.' This time, Luffy heard the voice coming from the table.

'YES I AM. Are you getting blind Luffy? I'm just here, look, I'm even waving my arms-'

Nami's voice was interrupted with a sharp intake of breath as Luffy lifted an orange compass in wonder.

'… Nami?'

**Haha… yes.. sucky ending, but I so WANTED TO FINISH A CHAPTER BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP w lol….. I CREATED THIS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF 1 HOUR, so please don't bash if it's kinda bad T^T Many loves to Na-Chan00 ****her story inspires me so much~! PLEASE REVIEW 3333333 kisses to people who do ;)**


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